20: Promise
**Oliver**
It had been a week since the start of Tristan's mission to seduce Lucien. According to her, it was anything but pleasant. It was to be expected though. Tristan lacked experience with feelings and Lucien had... perhaps too much experience. Tristan was not always this way though. I could still remember the first day my uncle had introduced me to her. She was quiet, shy and so absolutely pure. Of course, we didn't get along in the beginning. In fact, we'd been sworn enemies for a long time, with my foul mouth and disregard for her strength and her capability to have me hurled over in pain in an instant. And then slowly but surely, we began to grow on one another. All we had was the both of us, Oliver and Tristan against the whole world. I'd come to think of her as more than just the annoying girl who kicked me in the shins every time, she saw me. Instead, she became something I never had: a sibling. She was my little sister, and I, her older brother. But then, things changed when my uncle began training her. The first time he had, she was so badly beaten up I feared she'd die. But despite the awful condition she was in, she managed to heal herself beyond anything I'd ever seen. She was truly special, more special than any existing werewolf. And because of this, my uncle trained her harder than he'd ever trained anyone else, and in the process, he began stripping away who she was. She became cold, distant and hollow. The only thing remaining was the poisonous ambition and determination he'd instilled into her, and on top of that, the cold, vengeful rage he'd let consume him. He'd turned Tristan into a replica of him, and I hated him for it. I hated her too, but at the same time I loved her all too much. I couldn't quite disappear from her life. I couldn't part from her, no matter how emotionless she became, because all I saw when I looked at her, was that little girl full of mischief. The more I distanced myself from the cold person she was, the more I yearned to see that smile gracing her face. And so, I'd recently made it my life's purpose to bring that smile back to life. After all, what else did I have left? I'd royally fucked up everything with Loren because of my misogynistic way of thinking and now I regretted it more than anything. I couldn't follow Lucien around like a little puppy because watching a man lose himself to a woman who would never love him the way he wanted was getting exhausting and depressing. All I had left was Tristan. A small part of me hoped and prayed that she'd fail the mission she was given by my uncle. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Lucien, Jasmine and London. Damon, however, I wouldn't have minded seeing getting a little hurt. I hoped she'd fall in love with Lucien too, because if anyone had the ability to muster up even a fraction of a smile, then it was him.
"Oliver, is there something wrong with your water?" My uncle asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. I raised my brows, slightly and then shook my head, "No uncle, I was just lost in thought."
My uncle nodded and then cleared his throat, saying, "The reason I called you here today is because I need a favour. As you know, this coming week Saturday is the annual Alpha Conference. Now of course the location of the conference is not common knowledge to rogues like us-"
"-Like you? I'm not a rogue. I never needed a pack." I seethed.
My uncle raised his hands in surrender and then continued, "Well I'm going to need that piece of information."
"How am I possibly going to get my hands on something as need-to-know as the destination of the next Alpha Conference?" I asked.
"If I recall correctly, you've developed quite a good relationship with Jasmine Spectra. I'm sure you could use that."
I stood up at this point, enraged by what he'd suggested. "I'm sorry but I am *not* betraying her trust. Ask someone else."
"Sit down Oliver. Remember, this is all for Tristan."
And I just snapped then and there. "You're asking me to ask *Jasmine Spectra*, to betray her trust. This is definitely not for Tristan. Why do you want to know about the Alpha Conference destination anyway?"
My uncle sighed, leaned back and then said, "I want to make a statement. I want the werewolf community to know that the rumours are true. I want the fear to run rampant, infecting them all. I want-"
"You want Damon to be worried. I should've known. This isn't about Tristan at all. It's about your thirst for vengeance. I can't believe that after all this time you still only think about yourself. Can't you see that girl is lost? She doesn't even know what love is. She doesn't know how to feel and it's all your fault your fucking monster!"
My uncle stood up suddenly and let a low growl rip from his chest. It was clear that I'd struck a chord in him. But I was not afraid of my uncle. Perhaps once I had been, but things had changed over the years... I'd changed.
"You listen you useless piece of meat, you *will* get me that piece of information, you hear me?"
I slammed my fist down on the table. "I will not. You can't make me." Our eyes were now locked on each other's, daring one of us to move.
Eventually, my uncle grew tired of our stare off and sighed. "You will get me the information... or I will punish Tristan for your lack of cooperation. And you know what happens when I'm in a punishing mood."
I suddenly paled at his words, and I felt my spine shiver. My uncle was a despicable man, bringing his torturous punishment into the conversation. And so, I had no choice but to agree to him.
"Fine, I'll do it, but on one condition."
"What's that?" My uncle asked.
And I used this opportunity to at least try to make sure that my uncle couldn't hurt Tristan any more than he already had. "I will get the information you need if you promise *never* to punish or retaliate against Tristan ever again, no matter the mistakes she makes."
"I can't-"
"I'm not negotiating this uncle. I need you to promise." I said sternly. My uncle sighed deeply, contemplated a moment and then eventually nodded in agreement.
"Fine. From this day forward Tristan will not be punished for any mistakes she makes. It's not as though she makes mistakes in any event."
But I had a feeling that things were going to change now, and that Lucien would be, according to my uncle, the biggest mistake of her life. To her, however he'd be the one thing she'd never truly had. Someone to love.
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